U.S-Japan and U.S-Korea Relations Student Conference Applications Now Open

The Japan-America Student Conference (JASC) was founded in 1934 by Japanese students who were concerned about the deteriorating relations between Japan and the United States. Patterned after the JASC model of a student-run Conference, the first Korea-America Student Conference (KASC) launched in 2008. For either month-long program, students will participate in discussion groups called Roundtables, visit sites, attend lectures, and present the conclusions they reached during their discussions at a final forum. The conferences enable students to grow as leaders, build mutual understanding, and forge life-long friendships.

We invite students of all studies and backgrounds to participate in the 66th JASC and 7th KASC; no background in Japanese or Korean studies or language is necessary. Early application deadlines are due January 31, 2014 for the Summer 2014 conferences. 

International Student Conferences Staff Contact
www.iscdc.org

202-289-9088

jasc@iscdc.org

kasc@iscdc.org

Job Opening: Program Coordinator, 100,000 Strong Project

Description:

This position provides research and administrative support for the Executive Director of the 100,000 Strong Project, which is housed at American University's School of International Service.This position provides all manner of administrative support to the Executive Director and other senior staff and for the Project itself. The Program Coordinator also oversees research and writing projects, and directs the 100,000 Strong Student Ambassador Initiative. This person also works closely with the Project's senior staff in Washington, DC, around the US and in China. This position is contingent on external funds.

Educational Requirements:

The incumbent must have a Bachelor's degree and 3 years of experience or equivalent, preferably in Chinese Studies or a related field.

Minimum Requirements:

• Ability to maintain confidential information in a professional manner
• Professionalism and ability to work with visitors, including but not limited to international and domestic government officials, prospective students and their parents
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Excellent spelling, grammar and proofreading skills necessary to proof and edit documents
• Organizational skills; strong intercultural and interpersonal skills, attention to detail; flexibility in adjusting to changing priorities; and ability to successfully manage multiple simultaneous projects
• Must be able to take initiative, prioritize, and complete work with minimal supervision in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented office

Preferred Requirements:

Mandarin language skills preferred

Additional Information:

Department: School of International Service

Salary Range: $21.00 - $24.75/hour

Work Hours per Week: 35

Band: Coordinator/Analyst B

Position Type: Full-time Staff

American University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer committed to a diverse faculty, staff, and student body. The American University campus is tobacco and smoke free.

Application Information

http://www.Click2Apply.net/pcf3fz3

Call for Abstracts for the Columbia University Conference on East Asia

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: COLUMBIA GRADUATE STUDENT CONFERENCE ON EAST ASIA

23rd Annual Graduate Student Conference on East Asia
Columbia University in the City of New York
Friday February 14th to Saturday February 15th, 2014

Graduate students (and qualified undergraduates) are invited to submit abstracts for the 23rd Annual Columbia Graduate Student Conference on East Asia. This two-day conference -- the oldest of its kind in the nation -- provides students from institutions around the world with the chance to meet and share research in progress with their peers.  In addition, participants will gain valuable experience presenting their work through discussion with fellow graduate students as well as Columbia faculty.

This year's conference will be both a forum for promoting and circulating new ideas within East Asian studies and an opportunity to engage with fellow graduate students across disciplinary and regional frontiers. The field of East Asian studies, broadly conceived, offers fertile ground for exploring and re-inventing conventional analytical categories such as nation, society, politics, objects, space, economics, race, class, mind, identity, culture, body, art, nature, and so on. To that end, we especially encourage work that crosses national, temporal, and disciplinary boundaries to critically rethink the categories that both bind and sub-divide area studies. With an eye toward using the methodological tools of particular disciplines to make connections that are broadly applicable to the East Asian field, projects presented at this conference will be the starting point for discussions that can create new frontiers of knowledge and invigorate the next generation of scholarship. 

We welcome applications from students engaged in research on all fields in East Asian Studies, including but not limited to: history, literature, political science, economics, art history, religion, sociology, archaeology, law, environmental studies, media studies, and anthropology.

PARTICIPATION:

Participants can take part in the conference as presenters or discussants. Presenters deliver a talk no longer than 15 minutes that summarizes research in progress. Discussants introduce the panelists, offer feedback, and facilitate the 20-minute discussion session following the presentations. Please indicate on your application which role(s) you are applying for.

Presentations may take two possible forms: a standard academic research paper, or demonstration based in another medium. We encourage submissions of experimental work that engages non-traditional media, including (but not limited to) film, music, creative writing, and visual art. Please specifically indicate the format of your presentation on your application form. 

Finally, this year’s committee is also willing to consider applications from pre-arranged panels of three to four presenters organized around a specific research topic, such as a region, discipline or theme. If you are applying as a pre-formed panel, please make sure to include a topic or tentative title for your panel on the application form. 

APPLICATIONS (due November 29th, 2013):

Please fill out the application on <<http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ealac/gradconf/2014form.html>> with the required information:

*Your full name as you would like it to appear in the abstract booklet and conference schedule
*Contact information (e-mail)

*Institutional affiliation
*Major area of study (region and discipline)
*Title of your paper (or alternative media presentation)
*250-300 word abstract in print-ready format, including your name and institution

*Five key words for your paper (along with the abstract)

*Whether or not you would like to be considered as a discussant
*PLEASE NOTE: We will not accept presenter applications without abstracts.

Successful applicants will be notified of acceptance by mid-December.

Final Papers (5-7 pages maximum) are due January 10th, 2014.

NOTE:

*Please indicate any audiovisual equipment you will need for your presentation. Please note that our A/V resources are quite limited, and we may not be able to satisfy everyone's needs. Presenters must bring their own laptops and VGA adapters for computer presentations.

*Since presentations will be limited to 15 minutes, full-length research papers or theses will not be accepted. Presentations in any other format will also be restricted to 15 minutes.

*Applicants who have not submitted final papers or projects will not be permitted to participate in the conference.

__________________________________________________________

HOUSING:
Housing will be available on a very limited basis, but we encourage everyone to arrange their own accommodations in advance. The conference runs from Friday afternoon to late Saturday evening. Travel and lodging information will be available soon on the conference website.

CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS:
Allison Bernard, Eunsung Cho, James Gerien-Chen, Lei Lei, Jack Neubauer, Rachel Staum

CONTACT INFORMATION: 

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ealac/gradconf/

columbiagradcon2014@gmail.com

Graduate Student Conference on East Asia
Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
407 Kent Hall, Mail Code 3907
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027
FAX: 212-678-8629

Introduction of Indonesian Language Tea Times

The Sigur Center is pleased to announce the introduction of Indonesian language tea times!

The Indonesian language tea time is an informal event designed to give students the opportunity to practice their language skills, share study tips, and get to know other language students. The tea time is open to anyone who is currently studying, or is interested in, Indonesian. Tea and cookies are provided!

The Indonesian tea times will be held on Fridays from 4:00 - 5:00 PM,

meeting in the Sigur Center's Chung-wen Shih conference room, Suite 503.

To see the full schedule and RSVP, please go to:

http://www.gwu.edu/~sigur/news/events-calendar.cfm

Hope to see you there!

GSCD's Upcoming Career Panel: International careers with NED and affiliated NGOs

Have you considered working to promote democracy and economic development abroad? Skills across the Elliott School spectrum are in demand at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and its related NGOs: NDI, IRI, CIPE and the Solidarity Center. These organizations are looking for expertise in a number of fields, including global gender issues, monitoring and evaluation, public/private partnerships, and regional specialists. All are actively hiring interns and professional staff, with positions open to U.S. and international students.

Many of these opportunities offer hands-on experience and travel abroad, professional connections with public and private-sector actors across the globe, and “resume builders” for future careers in government, consulting, think tanks and many other industries. If you’re interested in working for democratic, social and economic causes, sign up for “Strengthening Democracies” to hear from and network with Elliott School alumni in this exciting industry.

Panelists:

Andriy Yuzvenko (Elliott M.A. alum '07)

Senior Grants Administrator
National Endowment for Democracy (NED)

Robert Cantelmo  (Elliott M.A. alum '13)

Assistant Program Officer, Asia
International Republican Institute (IRI)

Eli Mechanic (Elliott M.A. alum '10)

Senior Program Officer - Middle East/North Africa
National Democratic Institute (NDI)

Nalishha Mehta

Program Officer, Global Labor Programs
& Internship Coordinator
Solidarity Center, AFL-CIO

Elena Suhir (Elliott B.A. alum)

Senior Program Officer for Eurasia
Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)

 

Career Panel: Strengthening Democracies (NED, CIPE, IRI, NDI and Solidarity Center)
Wednesday, Oct. 30; 2:30-4:00 PM
Lindner Family Commons, ESIA Room 602

Study Break Travels: Singapore Part 1

Hi Asia on E Street Readers!

This is Selina~ it's been about 4 months since I arrived in Seoul, and I finally took my first of hopefully many trips exploring Seoul. One of the many things you'll here while your studying abroad is to travel outside of your study abroad! For this blog post I'm going to highlight my trip to Singapore. I was there for about 5 days including travel and stayed with a relative. It was such an exciting trip, and Singapore is very clean, beautiful, and expensive! Visiting Singapore left me with deep impressions especially how highly urbanized it is and the nature of its economy. I'll get to more of my impressions in my next post!

Much of downtown Singapore is luxury brands galore. I admit that when I left Singapore I suddenly became a bit excessive with my spending... On the first day we went to the main tourist attractions of Singapore. The first stop was Marina Bay where much of Singapore's architectural fame is. Below is the Merlion, a half mermaid half lion creature which is Singapore's mascot.

Next we made way to Marina Bay Sands, which is the most expensive casino bulit! It also looks like a giant surf board on top of the three towers ^^ The helix bridge then forms a pathway to the Singapore Flyer. Just past that is 

On Day 2, I headed over to Sentosa Bay Island a major resort/adventure park. 

To get there we took a cable car, above is the view from the car. Although I don't have any pictures, I had fun riding a segway, luge and another skyride around the island. Also there were so many photo opportunities with different Merlions!

On Day 3, I decided to sleep in. I had a quick lunch in Little India before heading to a concert. In Singapore, the food courts are all open air called Hawker centers. Like a food court, vendors prepare all sorts of foods, but no vendor sells the same thing nor do any of them sell drinks. There is a separate vendor just for drinks. Hawker centers also exist in just about all the metro stations. As does some sort of mall or entertainment complex as soon as you exit a metro.

Concerts are such great venues of sponsors. Before the show, we previewed much of the new Samsung galaxy products which included this nifty two way camera trick. 

Job Opening: Language Subject Matter Expert, National Foreign Language Center, University of Maryland

Summary of Position:

As a research institute of the University of Maryland, the National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) works to define current and future language needs of the nation and helps build capacity to meet those needs. Language Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) work with materials developers at the NFLC to create and review language lessons and e-learning materials. Examples of tasks include but are not limited to:

 • Developing instructional materials according to project specifications.

 • Reviewing e-learning content and providing feedback on quality to ensure adherence to project standards.

 • Working with team members to improve the quality of e-learning materials.

 • And performing other duties as assigned or as needed depending upon project deliverables.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Must have a Bachelor’s degree.

 • Must be able to handle multiple tasks, prioritize work, and work under tight deadlines.

 • Must have excellent writing skills.

 • Must have native or near-native proficiency in English.

 • Must have native or near-native proficiency in one of the following languages: Arabic (MSA), Arabic  (Egyptian), Arabic (Iraqi), Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Sudanese), Chinese, Dari, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Kurmanji, Pashto, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Sorani, or Tagalog.

Additional Information:

This is an hourly position, and does not include benefits. The hourly salary for this position is $20.65 per hour.

All applicants must have the ability to work legally in the United States without sponsorship

The National Foreign Language Center is located off campus at 5700 Rivertech Ct. in Riverdale, MD. It is within short walking distance from the College Park metro station on the Green Line as well as accessible using the University’s shuttle service

For more information and application process click on the following link:

https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/22246

Japan Exchange and Teaching Program Information Session

Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET)

JET is looking for individuals who are interested in international exchange, experiencing life abroad, working with students, and learning about Japan.

Information Session at GWU

Wednesday, October 16^th 2013

11:30am-1:30pm

Marvin Center: Room 538

RSVP through GWork

General Information Session

Thursday, October 24^th 2013

6:30pm- 8:30pm

Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC)

1150 18^th St. NW Washington DC

*Please RSVP to jetprogram@ws.mofa.go.jp

For more information and to apply online:

http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/JET/

(202) 238-6772/6773

A Year in Seoul

Hi Asia on E Street Readers!

This is Selina. I've done a few blogs this past summer about my summer program at Sogang University in Seoul. I will be continuing blogging here throughout the year as I spend the academic year abroad as an exchange student at Korea University.

If your curious about studying abroad or have any questions about living in South Korea, please feel free to comment on my blog posts or contact me personally at slara@gwu.edu
What is it like being an exchange student at Korea University?
I love being an exchange student! Korea University has some very good resources for exchange students such as the Korea University Student Buddy Program (KUBA). Through this program, I was paired up with full-time Korea University Student who I can go to for anything I need related to living in Seoul and attending classes. Each KUBA buddy is then put into a group-I'm in Group 3. The KUBA group then organizes some really great events for exchange students and Korean Students to interact. One of my favorite events was water sports!

The photo above and below is from my water sports trip. The big colorful balloon in both pictures is a giant inflatable ballon for blob jumping. One person sits at one end of the blob and is propelled into teh air by two other people who jump from a platform. The picture below also shows the ice berg float some other friends challenged. 

How are the classes and teachers like at Korea University?

Like any school, I think the classes are how you take them. As an International Affairs major concentrating in Asian Studies, I'm currently taking a range of political science, economics, and international business classes. All of my classes, except for my Beginning Korean Writing Course, is taught in English. The professors are, for the most part, easy to understand. I do not think any of my professors have thick, incomprehensible accents. Other exchange students may disagree with me though. Most classes will also require group projects. For me this is a really big change, I haven't had many group projects at GW, but this is a really good opportunity to interact with other korean students. I have been told by my Korean friends to really try and participate in group projects. Korean students sometimes have a bad impression of exchange students because exchange students do not always participate since the classes do not affect their GPA. 

The photo above is from my International Business class where my professor used a korean randomization game called 사다리타기 (sadari tagi: literally ladder climbing) to assign topics for group projects.

Are there any quirky differences about going to school in South Korea?

At Korea University, I feel like any other college student in the United States. Just some quirky differences is the many coffee shops and copy/print stores surrounding the front and back gates of Korea University. It seems like I can't walk anywhere without seeing a line at the closest coffee shop. There are also many copy/print stores where students can go to print their reading assignments. This is really different from the US where students will usually have their own printer or print at the school library. Many professors will also have the students buy the textbook at these copy stores. This is because most textbooks are actually just readers, where the professor has gathered different readings and had it binded through the copy store. 

Boren Fellowship Information Session on October 23rd

Boren Fellowship Information Session 

The Office of Graduate Student Assistantships and Fellowships (OGSAF) is pleased to announce an upcoming Boren Information Session. A Boren representative will be presenting during the Information Session. The session is open for graduates interested in the Boren Fellowship Program and will also include a Q&A section. To register for this event, please visit: 

https://ogsafgradboren2013.eventbrite.com/

Wednesday October 23, 2013 | 4:15PM

Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E St, NW
SPS Conference Room #605 (6th Floor)
Washington, DC 20052

The Boren Fellowships enable outstanding U.S. graduate students to pursue specialization in area and language study or to add important international dimensions to their education. The Boren Fellowships fund students pursuing study of regions other than Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

You must be a U.S. citizen to apply.

Boren Fellowships provide up to $30,000 to U.S. graduate students to add an important international and language component to their graduate education through specialization in area study, language study, or increased language proficiency. Boren Fellowships support study and research in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Boren Fellowships Deadline: January 28, 2013 (The deadline for Optional Essay Review is 11 January 2013. Please contact gradfell@gwu.edu for more details).

New subscriptions at The Japan Resource Center

The Japan Resource Center is pleased to announce a trial database subscription, Maisaku.  It contains daily Mainichi Shinbun from 1872 to the present, the weekly journal Ekonomisuto since 1989, the English newspaper The Mainichi since 2008 and more.  Explore the database on the GRC website http://library.gwu.edu/collections/GRC  through Oct. 23, 2013 and please fill in the online feedback form to let us know what you think!

The Japan Resource Center (JRC) was established in 2005 to provide support for advanced study on Japan to the George Washington University community, especially those at the Elliott School of International Affairs as well as to the business circle and researchers of Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

Adding up to the collection, the scope of the JRC’s collection includes the history, politics, economy, public policy, national security, culture, and foreign relations of Japan after the Meiji Restoration (1868), with a weight on the 20th century, in accordance with the academic focus of the Elliott School.  The collection format consists of monographs, periodicals, newspapers, references and databases.

For more information contact:

Yukako Tatsumi

Japan Resource Center Librarian

ytatsumi@email.gwu.edu

Site Visit to IFES (International Foundation for Electoral Systems)

The Graduate Student Career Development still has room available for its upcoming site visit to IFES (International Foundation for Electoral Systems) on Friday, October 4. IFES is actively recruiting for internships and full-time positions. It is not too late to RSVP, but there are only a few spots left!

The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is an international, non-profit organization that supports citizens’ right to participate in free and fair elections. As the global leader in democracy promotion, IFES advances good governance and democratic rights by: providing technical assistance to election officials, empowering the underrepresented, and applying field-based research to improve the electoral cycle. Since being founded in 1987, IFES has worked in over 135 countries – from developing to mature democracies.

For more information, or to RSVP:

please log into Elliott School Career Connection: (http://www.elliottschoolcc.com).